by K. A. Tucker
Caden continued. “You’ll be hard–pressed to find a vampire fixing toilets or serving drinks, unless they have an ulterior motive.”
“Sofie serves coffee,” I answered, challenging him.
Caden’s head rolled to face me. “I wonder why …” His voice was soft, protective. A gentle warning.
“You’re right. I have to question everything, don’t I?”
He nodded, a small smile touching his lips before he sat up again.
My eyes drifted around the alcove, landing on each vampire for a brief moment, listening to them chatter and laugh happily. That means I’m supposed to question all of you? The idea distressed me. I didn’t want to question them.
Every fiber of my body was keenly aware of Caden’s presence, so close to me. Now and again his arm would bump against mine as he laughed. I’m sure it was accidental, but each one of those nudges sent electric ripples through my body. I managed to steal several glances at him, pacing myself so I didn’t get caught ogling. Soft–looking masculine fuzz had started to grow in the center of his chest. Hairy chests had never appealed to me before. Now, though …
“Bishop?” Fiona’s low, worried voice cut into my fantasies. I glanced over to see the male vampire no longer languishing in the tub but sitting rigid, scowling and shushing her with his hand while he listened for something. The group sat tense for a moment, aware of something I was blind to.
Finally he shook his head, then grinned at Caden. “Nothing. Big Brown took care of it.”
He had been communicating telepathically with his pet. About what, though? “More vampires?” I guessed, a shiver running down my back.
“Not anymore,” Caden answered, turning to smile reassuringly at me. “We’re good.”
“Told you he was worth the battle.” Bishop smirked arrogantly at Fiona, then threw a wink in my direction. He leaned back again, closing his eyes.
More vampires. Lurking in the mountains—the mountains I had hoped would be impenetrable—on their way here to torture me when they found me. I swallowed a lump. “Are they ever going to stop?” I whispered. “One of them may get past—”
“They won’t.” Caden’s voice was soothing. “Don’t worry.” Underwater, an invisible hand landed on my knee and squeezed gently before sliding away again. A thrill rippled from the point of contact to the rest of my body. I swallowed. If he was trying to distract me, he was doing a fantastic job.
“You wanna go stretch? I need to stretch,” Amelie announced, grabbing my hand and effortlessly pulling me to the connecting pool, no doubt to further distract me from the talk of vampires in the jungle.
“Sure,” I mumbled, glancing back at Caden. He was watching me. Always watching.
When I learned that “stretching” meant doing a swan dive off a twenty foot–high boulder into a shallow part of the pool where jagged rocks peppered the bottom, I politely declined. I instead dove under, swimming toward the center of the lake.
Something brushed lightly against my leg. I turned to see Caden beside me, giving me an open–mouth grin, reminding me that I was the only one who had to resurface for air. We both surfaced.
“Follow me. I want to show you something,” he said. I nodded eagerly, willing to follow him into the pits of hell. “Big breath, okay?”
I nodded again. We dove under and Caden grabbed my hand and began towing me, swimming effortlessly. Down, down we descended, flying through the water at high speed. As the lake floor dropped beneath us, swallowing us whole, I began to think the pits of hell was exactly where we were headed. Soon I couldn’t even see my arms in the darkness enveloping me. Caden must have sensed my agitation because he drew me closer, one of his arms wrapping around my waist to pull my back against his chest. Now I had two things to freak out over—the paralyzing darkness and Caden’s proximity.
I sensed a directional change. And then we finally surfaced. Spent air burst from my mouth and I inhaled loudly. Luckily I had been so focused on his hand against my ribcage that I forgot about panicking over my need for air.
“Too bad the pendant can’t breathe for you,” he said into my ear, still holding me tightly.
“Yeah, that’d be helpful.” My voice broke. “Where are we?” I looked up at moonlight shining down through a circle of night sky—a gaping hole, I realized—to illuminate the placid lake and a powerful waterfall maybe thirty feet high, far down on the other side of this particular spot.
“We’re on the other side of the mountain, near the ocean.”
Caden’s arms slid from my body. I turned to see him already out of the water, standing on a rock ledge that extended the full length of the cave wall. The black and gray swim trunks that Sofie had chosen for him sat low on his hips, revealing the defined, muscular shape of his abdomen and pelvic bones. A fine line of hair crept all the way down his stomach, disappearing under the waistband of his trunks …
“Evangeline?” The sound of my name snapped me from my blatant gawking. I turned away quickly, heat crawling up my neck. You’re such a pervert, Evangeline. It took a moment to regain my composure. When I finally felt brave enough to look back, Caden was grinning at me, not the least bit uncomfortable. He offered his hand. “Here.”
I took it, and he effortlessly yanked me out into icy air. My body tensed with the cold. I briefly considered jumping back into the water but Caden’s grip on my hand tightened. “Come on.” Caden began walking briskly along the ledge, tugging me along.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I want to show you something.”
We walked to the other side of the cave and stopped by the ferocious waterfall, the sound of its rushing water reminding me of Viggo and Mortimer’s jet engine. Caden turned and said something.
“Pardon?” I yelled.
He leaned in close, his mouth next to my ear. “You need to hold on tight.” I nodded, squeezing his hand. Chuckling with amusement, he yanked me toward him until our chests were touching. My heart started pounding. I heard myself suck in air as he again moved his mouth next to my ear. “Close your eyes and put your face against my chest.” The vibrations from his words tickled my skin, making my heart pound harder. “You feeling okay?” His voice was innocent enough.
“Yup,” I said, annoyed with the telltale thumping in my chest. How can he not know? Could this vampire be that oblivious? Maybe he could be, thanks to my necklace.
“Are you sure?”
More vibrations causing more tickling causing more pounding. My breathing became raspy. Unable to speak, I instead nodded and buried my face in his chest, expecting to pass out.
His body shook. Was he laughing? He leaned in to speak to me again. “Wrap your arms around me.”
I locked my arms around his back, feeling his smooth skin and rigid muscles. His strong arms lifted my body, squeezing tightly. The ground suddenly disappeared from beneath us. And at that moment I realized Caden’s intention. We were jumping through that giant, ferocious waterfall.
The torrent of water hit us, beating down on every muscle in my shoulders and back and effortlessly driving my hands apart. Thankfully my bare feet were touching hard ground before I had a chance to panic.
“You can come out now,” Caden whispered.
I pulled my face away from the comfortable nook I had located in his chest.
“I figured it was best not to tell you what we were doing,” he explained, looking sheepish.
“Good call,” I muttered, allowing only a fleeting scowl. I can’t be mad at you.
He smiled—such a sweet, genuine smile—then nodded to something behind us. I turned. And squinted at a sea of silver, thousands of metallic, ropelike vertical strands glowing brilliantly in the darkness of a wide tunnel. They swayed gracefully back and forth as if being coerced by a gentle breeze that never touched my skin. They had to be at least three feet high, growing in round clumps right out of the bedrock.
Stepping forward, awe slowing my feet, I reached out to touch one of the strands. It was soft
and pliable, like yarn. My eyes widened. I knew what it was.
15. Sea of Merth
“This is how Merth grows?” I whispered, turning to Caden.
He shrugged. “Guess so. None of us have ever seen it like this before. It’s next to impossible to find. The Council’s been hunting for it since the war. We knew Jethro had some, but didn’t know where he got it from. It’s why he was so territorial about this place. I’ll bet there are groves of this stuff in these mountains.”
The mention of the Council reminded me of Rachel. “So … will Rachel tell the Council about it?” And about me?
Caden sighed loudly. “We’re not telling her about this.” He closed the gap between us, his expression serious. He reached up to delicately touch my cheek. The gesture made my heart begin hammering erratically in my chest. “She’s not going to tell them about you. I’m making sure of that.” I caught the sudden twitch in his cheek, like he was trying not to wince.
“What’s wrong?”
He dropped his hand, moving away from me. “Being around this much Merth is painful. But I wanted to show you. If we can figure out a way to get some out, you should take it back with you … for protection.”
I suddenly remembered. “Sofie asked me to bring back as much as I can. I don’t know why,” I added when I saw his questioning look.
His jaw tightened. “What is that witch not telling you?”
Probably as much as I’m not telling you, I thought guiltily. Watching him wince in pain just so he could show me a way to shield myself from him and his kind, my need for secrecy and protection vanished instantly. “I can bring you back with me,” I blurted.
Caden’s eyes widened in alarm. “What? You said—”
“I lied! But I’m telling you now. There is a way to take you back.”
“How do you know?”
“Sofie told me.”
Caden sneered, his doubt obvious. But then he must have had a thought, because his face turned grim. “Take who back, exactly?”
They really don’t miss anything, do they. I swallowed. “Well, that’s the problem; I don’t know how or who I can bring back—”
Caden cut me off. “Don’t say a word to the others about this.”
“Because I may not be able to bring them back with me?”
“Yes, exactly. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“But if I can figure out how, then you can come back with me.”
“No!” Horror made it a shout. I jumped back, and he softened his tone. “I mean, it doesn’t matter if one of us goes or all of us go …” He chewed his lip as if deliberating what to say. “We haven’t been exposed to human blood in over seven hundred years,” he began, then paused to clear his throat, which had turned hoarse. “That necklace disguises what you are here, right?” I nodded. “But you said that, in your world, it’s useless. These vampire friends of yours can smell your blood, sense your emotions, all that.”
Again, I nodded and his jade eyes locked with mine, turning hard as he spoke again, slowly and deliberately. “What do you think will happen when one of us is exposed to the scent of human blood—a scent that drives us to kill with more intensity than you could ever possibly imagine—for the first time in seven hundred years?”
I pursed my lips, beginning to understand where the conversation was going.
He didn’t stop there, though. “And which human will be in close proximity?” His left eyebrow arched, and I swallowed. “You wouldn’t stand a chance. You’d be dead before you knew what was going on.” Caden grimaced.
“But you could control yourself, couldn’t you?”
“No, Evangeline.” Caden shook his head, dismissing my faith in him. “You don’t understand how powerful this need for blood is.” He stepped away from me and began pacing. “When Amelie was still human, she had a boyfriend. They’d been dating for three years. She loved the guy. He was a bit of a wanker in my opinion, but … I’m her older brother so I’m supposed to be hard on boyfriends. Anyway, when she was turned, she made the mistake of going to see him. I don’t know what she was thinking. Well, I do. She wanted to see him. She had to see him.”
“What happened? Was he scared off?” I asked.
“No … Well, he might have been if she ever had the chance to tell him. Between her thirst for his blood and her overwhelming desire for him, she couldn’t control herself.” Caden looked down at his hands. “She killed him. Drained him of every last drop of blood.”
I gasped. “Poor Amelie!”
Caden barked laughter, shaking his head at me. “Poor Amelie? What about poor wanker?” He sighed, stopping in front of me. “Amelie lives with that guilt every day, as strong now as it was seven hundred years ago. I couldn’t live with myself if I did that to you.” His fingertip brushed my cheek, raw pain momentarily flashing in his eyes.
I swallowed and—I don’t know where the bravery came from—timidly moved my fingertips up to touch his, where they rested on my cheek. Or tried to, anyway. My hand was trembling enough to mimic a Parkinson’s patient.
He abruptly grabbed my hand, panic marring his gorgeous features. “Oh God! You’re freezing! Why didn’t you say anything?”
I was freezing, I realized—but that wasn’t why I was trembling. Either way, I wasn’t going to admit it.
“Let’s go.” He tugged me after him, his jaw taut.
“Go” meant jumping through the waterfall again, something I didn’t exactly enjoy, but I was easily mollified by burying my face in Caden’s chest again. Once through, he swung me up into his arms with ease, cradling me like a small child. “There’s another way,” he murmured and began running down an unseen tunnel—completely dark—at warp speed.
It took only minutes to get back to the others, but my teeth were chattering uncontrollably by the time we arrived. Caden leapt into the natural hot tub where we had started, me still snug in his arms. At first the shock of the heat felt like a million tiny prickles against my skin, and I winced with the sting. When I saw Caden’s pained expression, though, I fought hard to smooth my face.
Caden refused to let go, holding me tightly as he apologized repeatedly, “I didn’t realize how cold the air was for you. I forgot about—I’m an idiot!”
“It’s ok–k–kay, I’m warming up–p now,” I said between chattering teeth, trying to ease his conscience.
“No, it’s not okay! You’re stiff as a board!” he exclaimed.
A burst of laughter escaped before I sucked it in. It was the feel of his bare, muscular abs against my ribcage and something else against my hip that was preventing my body from relaxing.
“I should have known better,” he continued. “It’s bad enough that you have to worry about being attacked by vampires, now you may die of hypothermia.” His hand furiously rubbed his brow.
“Thanks for showing me th–the Merth. It’s b–beautiful, even though it’s d–dangerous to you,” I continued, attempting to distract him.
He heaved a huge sigh, then frowned at me. “You’re allowed to get angry.”
“It won’t accomplish anything,” I answered, smiling at him. “B–besides, it was fun.” I averted my gaze shyly.
“Which part, being pulled down a pitch black, underwater rabbit hole, or being pummeled by a waterfall?” he retorted sarcastically.
The truth was, I had already forgotten about those minor distractions; my mind still reeled from the feel of his body against my back as he pulled me through the murky abyss and his strong arms as they held me tightly, protecting me. I wasn’t about to tell him that, though. “All of it,” I answered instead.
He muttered something incoherent, rolled his eyes, and shook his head at me.
My rigid muscles finally started to unlock.
“Good God, Caden. Her lips are blue!” Amelie had stealthily swum up. Her normally raspy voice sounded condemning, and she glared at her brother in disapproval.
I defended him. “It’s okay! I’m fine.”
Amelie rolled doubtful eyes.
“Did he show you the Merth, at least?”
I nodded, another surge of guilt souring my stomach at the thought that I was keeping my secret from her when she was so willing to share theirs.
“Cool, huh?” Amelie threw a mysterious glance at Caden, then dove under the water and swam away.
I sighed, wishing I could read them like Sofie could read me. My teeth had finally stopped chattering, but my fingertips, when I reached up to scratch my nose, were shriveled. “I need to get out.” I held my wrinkly hand up in front of Caden’s face, scrunching my nose in disgust.
“Wait right here.”
Caden’s arms slid out from around me. I watched his chiseled body as he leapt out of the water and disappeared down the tunnel. He returned thirty seconds later with the plush red blanket under one arm and several large chunks of wood tucked under the other. He had a vibrant fire blazing in seconds. Hoisting me out of the water, he wrapped me in the blanket and led me over to sit next to the flames. He slid in directly behind me, his legs stretched out on either side, and began rubbing my arms and back.
Although I didn’t mind the doting, I knew I was taking advantage of his unwarranted guilt. “Thanks. I’m good now.” He ignored me, continuing to half dry, half warm me. “Really. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“We should change those bandages on your hand, too,” he murmured.
“Oh, to be invisible …” I mused sarcastically.
He pulled me back toward him until I was close enough that his inner thighs touched my hips and his chin hovered over my shoulder. I was sure I felt warm breath tickling against the nape of my neck. But he doesn’t need to breathe, does he?
“Are you still cold? You’re trembling,” Caden murmured.
“Nope, I’m good,” I muttered, heat crawling up my cheeks. The opposite, actually. I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on my breathing.
I heard a lid pop and opened my eyes to see Caden rifling through a medical kit. It was enough to distract me from Caden’s inadvertent torture for the moment. I raised a querying eyebrow.
